A recent case of fraud has put RBI officials on more alert. The fraud came into light when personnel officer (PO) of RBI's Jaipur office, R K Singh received a cal from a girl in Hyderabad seeking details of the lottery that she claimed to have won from RBI. The girl had received the intimation of the lottery on Singh's letterhead.

This brought into light the matter that crooks were using the names of nationalized banks and even RBI to cheat people.

Officials of the Jaipur office have taken strict measures to curb such issues and at the same time make the common man aware of such crooks operating in the country.

According to the regional director of the RBI Jaipur office, B P Kanungo, these fraudsters are coming up with more and more sophisticated methods to cheat public.

"These offers are generally made through letters, emails, mobile phones, SMSes etc. Apart from typical modalities adopted in the past the fraudsters are now using certificates, letters, circulars, etc. which are sent through e-mail on letterheads that look like that of RBI and purportedly signed by its top executives or senior officials to make them appear as genuine," he added.

"The RBI has cautioned authorised dealer banks against remittances towards schemes involving money circulation, lottery schemes etc. RBI has also issued circulars to create awareness regarding such fraudulent methods. The Know Your Customers (KYC) norms too would be helpful in stopping these malpractices." Kanungo said.